Tag Archives: Politics

2008 Election, Economy, Media, Politics

Forget Persuasion, Attack Limbaugh Instead

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President Obama is not having an easy time with his nearly trillion dollar so-called stimulus plan, despite getting a jump-start from President Bush. In theory, as in rhetoric, doing something to stimulate the ‘economy’ is what is needed. But if what you propose is, in reality, not an economic stimulus but rather a seismic shift from free markets and limited government, to government control of markets and industry with ‘no exit plan’ (that sounds familiar), then I would hope that he would encounter opposition from Democrats and Republicans, and everyone in between. And that includes Rush Limbaugh.

Rather than trying to persuade Republicans on Capital Hill on the efficacy of his plan, he shifts the focus to a private citizen, talk radio host Rush Limbaugh. Speaking with Republicans in Washington on his first week, Obama said . . .

You can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done.

Echoing chief of staff Rahm Emanual’s ‘rule one,’ he stresses the urgency for action. Never mind what kind of action. Obama said . . .

We are experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis that has to be dealt with and dealt with rapidly.

Having been brought into the discussion on Obama’s economic plan, Rush Limbaugh responds in an interview on Byron York’s blog at National Review Online.

Before I get to Rush’s response, which is below. Harken back to the campaign. Remember how the media virtually ignored and discounted Obama’s alliances with radicals like William Ayers? They characterized them as mere fleeting associations that were of no pertinent significance. The role the media played in Obama’s campaign and subsequent election is the reason people like you and I were not informed, and Charlie Rose and Tom Brokaw didn’t know (or didn’t want to know) about just who he (Obama) is. ‘We don’t know a lot about him,’ said Brokaw. (Why didn’t you ask, Tom?)

In his response, Rush puts Obama’s so-called stimulus plan and motivation into proper perspective in the name of Saul Alinsky. In Alinsky’s book, Rules for Radicals, he writes  . . .

“Make the enemy live up to their (sic) own book of rules,” Alinsky wrote in his 1989 book Rules for Radicals. When pressed to honor every word of every law and statute, every Judeo-Christian moral tenet, and every implicit promise of the liberal social contract, human agencies inevitably fall short. The system’s failure to “live up” to its rule book can then be used to discredit it altogether, and to replace the capitalist “rule book” with a socialist one. (Courtesy Discover the Networks.org)

Ask yourself, is this not what we are seeing?

Rush’s response follows:

There are two things going on here. One prong of the Great Unifier’s plan is to isolate elected Republicans from their voters and supporters by making the argument about me and not about his plan. He is hoping that these Republicans will also publicly denounce me and thus marginalize me. And who knows? Are ideological and philosophical ties enough to keep the GOP loyal to their voters? Meanwhile, the effort to foist all blame for this mess on the private sector continues unabated when most of the blame for this current debacle can be laid at the feet of the Congress and a couple of former presidents. And there is a strategic reason for this.

Secondly, here is a combo quote from the meeting:

“If we don’t get this done we (the Democrats) could lose seats and I could lose re-election. But we can’t let people like Rush Limbaugh stall this. That’s how things don’t get done in this town.”

To make the argument about me instead of his plan makes sense from his perspective. Obama’s plan would buy votes for the Democrat Party, in the same way FDR’s New Deal established majority power for 50 years of Democrat rule, and it would also simultaneously seriously damage any hope of future tax cuts. It would allow a majority of American voters to guarantee no taxes for themselves going forward. It would burden the private sector and put the public sector in permanent and firm control of the economy. Put simply, I believe his stimulus is aimed at re-establishing “eternal” power for the Democrat Party rather than stimulating the economy because anyone with a brain knows this is NOT how you stimulate the economy. If I can be made to serve as a distraction, then there is that much less time debating the merits of this TRILLION dollar debacle.

Obama was angry that Merrill Lynch used $1.2 million of TARP money to remodel an executive suite. Excuse me, but didn’t Merrill have to hire a decorator and contractor? Didn’t they have to buy the new furnishings? What’s the difference in that and Merrill loaning that money to a decorator, contractor and goods supplier to remodel Warren Buffet’s office? Either way, stimulus in the private sector occurs. Are we really at the point where the bad PR of Merrill getting a redecorated office in the process is reason to smear them? How much money will the Obamas spend redecorating the White House residence? Whose money will be spent? I have no problem with the Obamas redoing the place. It is tradition. 600 private jets flown by rich Democrats flew into the Inauguration. That’s fine but the auto execs using theirs is a crime? In both instances, the people on those jets arrived in Washington wanting something from Washington, not just good will.

If I can be made to serve as a distraction, then there is that much less time debating the merits of the trillion dollar debacle.

One more thing, Byron. Your publication and website have documented Obama’s ties to the teachings of Saul Alinksy while he was community organizing in Chicago. Here is Rule 13 of Alinksy’s Rules for Radicals:

“Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.”

And here’s how the Huffington Post and Think Progress lie about what Obama, and Rush, said.

related links:

Politics, War On Terror

President Obama's First Rash Decision

No, I’m not going to begin counting them. But President Obama’s decision to close Club Gitmo, Guantanamo Bay’s Camp Delta, the tropical resort where the world’s worst terrorists are being held, without first deciding what he plans to do with them is putting the cart before the horse. Sound like good judgment to you? Of course not.

His decision to close Gitmo within 12 months had more to do with political expediency than national security. Clearly, pacifying his far left base is more important to him. Either that, or he is more incompetent as a Commander in Chief than anyone has imagined. You can decide which, and there is no good answer.

Letting them go, or affording them the same Constitutional protections as U.S. citizens, which would end with the same result, so that they can again take up arms against us  does not make me feel safer. It does, however, make terrorists feel safer. Prisoner #372 probably likes the idea.

Cairo, Egypt: An Internet posting purportedly by al-Qaida in Yemen says the group’s No. 2 is a Saudi national who is a former Guantanamo detainee.

link: Report: Ex-Gitmo detainee joins al-Qaida in Yemen

Economy, Politics

Stimulus Bill Is $825 Billion Pork Bill

Of the $825 billion of what the administration is calling an economic stimulus bill, only $275 billion of it goes towards actual economic stimulus. The rest is merely spending money on projects that generate no stimulus to the economy. Like Rahm Emanual said a short time ago, let’s not miss our chance to advance our agenda during the economic crisis.

Here is his exact quote from the Sunday CBS show Face The Nation, November 9, four days after the election . . .

“Rule one: Never allow a crisis to go to waste,” Mr. Emanuel said in an interview on Sunday. “They are opportunities to do big things.”

And this is exactly what is happening.

No longer are they described as a stimulus. They are described as investments. Which is democrat-speak for big spending programs that advance the party agenda, NOT providing an economic stimulus.

Among those “priority investments” are:

— $650 million to help Americans upgrade to digital cable reception after the official transition to digital television transmission on Feb. 17, 2009.

— $44 million to repair and improve the headquarters of the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.

— $276 million to upgrade and modernize information technology at the State Department.

— $3.1 billion to fund “infrastructure projects” on federal land, including $1.8 billion for the National Park Service, $650 million for the U.S. Forest Service, and $300 million for the National Fish Hatcheries.

— $600 million for NASA, including $400 million for projects such as “satellite sensors that measure solar radiation critical to understanding climate change.”

— $1.9 billion for the Department of Energy for “basic research into the physical sciences,” including nuclear physics and fusion energy.

— $209 million for maintenance work at the federal Agricultural Research Service’s research facilities across the country.

— $400 million in repairs to various “national treasures,” including $200 million for revitalizing the National Mall, $150 for maintenance at the Smithsonian Institution, and $50 million to make up for a lack of philanthropic support for the arts.

— $850 million for “wildland fire management,” including $550 million to states for “volunteer fire assistance,” “city forest enhancements” and “wood to energy” projects.

— $400 million for “habitat restoration” projects to be doled out by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

— $2.7 billion for “rural water and waste disposal” grant programs for providing loans for digging wells or extending municipal water services in rural areas.

— $2 billion to provide day care services to 300,000 additional low-income children, ostensibly while their parents are at work.

— $1.2 billion to create an estimated 1 million summer jobs for young people.

— $2.5 billion to upgrade government-owned housing projects with new insulation, windows, and furnaces.

— $6.2 billion to weatherize the homes of low-income people to make them more energy efficient.

— $2.4 billion for projects demonstrating carbon-capture technology.

— $600 million to “prepare our country for universal healthcare” by training more doctors, dentists, and nurses.

— $1.5 billion to build new “Community Health Centers.”

— $20 billion to provide “nutrition assistance” for middle-income families and to lift restrictions on how long people can receive food stamps.

— An undisclosed amount to “provide 100 percent federal funding through 2010 for optional State Medicaid coverage of individuals (and their dependents) who are receiving unemployment benefits or have exhausted those benefits.”

related links:

Politics

Tax Evader Approved For Treasury Post

The Obama campaign wasn’t lying when they said there was going to be change in his administration. But who knew that this is what they meant?

The Senate Finance Committee has cleared the nomination of Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary despite unhappiness over his mistakes in paying his taxes.

That’s right, not paying taxes for a number of years in a row were simply ‘mistakes.’ After all, Geithner ended up paying taxes for the years that the IRS told him to pay for.  Which did not include taxes for the years 2000 and 2001 which were also not paid. Taxes for those years were not paid until the day before President Obama announced that he was his choice for Treasury Secretary.  Oh hell, those years were just a simple oversight.

Right, in much the same way that Sandy (socks) Burger was just a sloppy worker (Bill Clinton’s explanation), and stealing documents from the National Archives and stuffing them in his socks, and hiding them on a construction site, and picking them up later in the evening, was just normal for good ole’ Sandy.

I’m not seeing change here. I’m seeing more of the same.

link: Senate panel approves Geithner for treasury post

Politics

What Can You Do About It?

Conservatives and conservative principles took a huge hit in this last general election, and the one before that. Getting a bit frustrated? I understand. Been there, done that. No more frustrated than I was when republicans didn’t know how to lead once they won in 2000, and started loosing seats four years later. Here’s one thing you can take to the bank, or under your mattress, whichever you trust more. As for ‘our representatives’ in Washington, when they feel the heat, they will see the light.

Enter the Intelligent Thinkers Movement. It is what grassroots is all about.

Here’s an excerpt that lays the foundation, check the link for more details and how you can help. No cash required. Just your commitment.

The voice of “we the people” has been hijacked by partisan politics, government bureaucrats, and the influence of money on elections and legislation. To take back our government, we must be able to un-elect members of Congress on a timely basis, and dramatically influence their decisions while they are in office.

Because of the proliferation of biased media reporting, gullible voters, and too many in Congress who willingly and intentionally make deceptive and misleading statements about proposed legislation, “we the people” must be able to provide succinct and intelligent feedback to Congress frequently and persistently. We can then hold them accountable intelligently at election time, which is our only leverage for holding their feet to the fire.

We don’t need all 306 million citizens to be successful. We only need 100,000 voters per Congressional district for them to “see the light”.

“We the people” can and will take back our government and the strategic direction of this Nation. It is our right and responsibility.

This is NOT a republican, democrat, libertarian, conservative, liberal, or progressives movement. This is a “we the people” movement.

link: Hermanator’s Intelligent Thinkers Movement (HITM)

Media, Politics

Pelosi, A More Open, Ethical Congress

That is what Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said she was bringing to the House over two years ago. Democrats were going to be more ethical, more open, and something about working with republicans. You remember, it was back when Rep. William (Dollar Bill) Jefferson (D-LA) was found with $90,000 in marked bribe money in the freezer of his Washington residence. Jefferson, btw, is still in Pelosi’s House.

Last week, unnoticed ? by the mainstream media, Speaker Pelosi made a rule change that effectively prohibits the minority, Republicans, from offering amendments or input to new legislation.

One change puts new restrictions on motions to “recommit” a bill to the committee that approved it in order to add new amendments.

The new rule allows the full House to reconsider a bill without delay, depriving the minority party of an opportunity to add its input on the proposed legislation.

This must be what she meant when she said that her House would be more open, ethical, and will be working with Republicans. It is good that Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) is still around to see how his foolish, ‘friendly gesture’ of ‘power sharing’ has affected Speaker Pelosi.  Have we learned anything here? Some republicans learn quicker than others.

Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL) had this to say about it . . .

Included in last week’s accomplishments was the passage of the new Democratic Rules Package, which extended the time Democrats can chair committees, reduced the rights of Republicans to represent their constituents and took the House of Representatives one step closer to being the most authoritarian and dictatorial Congress since the early part of the 20th century.

Former Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO), recalling PEBO’s campaign rhetoric and comparing that to what Speaker Pelosi has done. Blunt said the changes are an “absolute contradiction to everything Barack Obama said” about nonpartisan politics during the campaign.

This move by Pelosi has got to be the most unreported action by the House of Representatives. Given the political consequences of the rule change, one would think that that would be newsworthy.  Well, then you get into ethics and getting-along stuff so hell, what story? There’s no story there.

related links: Pelosi’s Power Grab: Her Plan to Shackle the GOP | House faces early partisan fight over rules

Economy, Fair Tax, Politics

Real Change, A Constitutional Convention

4 Comments

By now you’ve probably got the notion that the politicos in Washington have stopped listening to you and have settled in on the idea of keeping the power and status that goes with ‘serving’ our country. You also have learned that Washington believes that they know what is good for you, your family, your business, your livelihood, and your childrens’ education.

Paramount in every one’s mind today is the economy. As never before in our nation’s history and in world history, we no longer have just our economy sandwiched between two oceans living happily ever after. We are part of a global economy that is subject to the give and take, or if you will, the actions and reactions of industrialized nations around the world.

With that in mind, what we are hearing from Washington nowadays is that government spending of apocalyptic proportions is going to bring our economy around to recovery. And that couldn’t be more wrong. To think otherwise, you must assume that the government makes money and it is just spending the money it makes to help us. Fact is, the government only prints money, it doesn’t make a thin dime. The money the government uses is made by you and I. In fact, they have been spending money that we, our children, and our grandchildren haven’t yet made. The government gets it through taxation. They don’t make it, they take it. And they take it in ways that are punitive to those that create it, and in ways that hurt the most vulnerable among us. That would be the poor, and the means is the payroll tax. They take it so they can spend it in ways that will insure not only their re-election but their hold of power for power’s sake. NOT for the improvement of the economy.

As I said in the previous post, a lot of politicians will have to go into a 12-step program to wean themselves from of the old way of ‘control through taxation’ before real progressive change can take place in America. Question is, what will make them do that? Who will make them see the light? There is only one answer to this question. The people that elected them, you and I, are the ones who will proscribe it. First by electing like minded representatives. Second by pushing for a Constitutional Convention.

Georgia’s Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine has planted the seed and Neal Boortz, co-author of the Fair Tax book and Fair Tax: The Truth, Answering the Critics, has expanded on it. This is the kind of change that I’m talking about. What follows is from Boortz’s website.

We need a Constitutional Convention called for the sole purpose of adding three specific amendments to the United States Constitution. The convention would consider these three amendments … and nothing further. Two-thirds of the States need to pass a resolution calling for such a convention, and those resolutions need to be specifically worded so as to limit the purpose of the convention to these three amendments. Without that limitation we’re going to have left-wing fools trying to add amendments guarantying such things as a right to a job, a place to live and health care. Not good.

So .. what are the three amendments? (You don’t listen to me all that much, do you?) Very simple …

1. An amendment to the Constitution repealing the 16th Amendment. What is the 16th Amendment? That would be the income tax. By repealing the 16th Amendment the Congress would be forced to come up with a new way of generating the revenue needed for the legitimate functions of our government.
2. An amendment repealing the 17th Amendment. The 17th Amendment calls for the popular election of U.S. Senators. Before the 17th Amendment each state legislature would appoint that state’s two Senators. The congressmen were in Washington to represent the people, and the Senators were there to represent the states. Right now the government of Mexico has an official representative in Washington; the government of New Mexico does not. This enables the federal government to run roughshod over the states with unfounded mandates and other federal demands. Give the state governments a voice in Washington .. repeal the 17th Amendment.
3. An amendment setting term limits for members of the House of Representatives. Give them three terms, then send them home. Yes, I know, there are some people we would truly like to keep up there to pursue some worthy objectives, but in the balance we’re hurt by those who spend taxpayer money to solidify their power than we are would be by sending the few good representatives home at the end of six years.

Now .. here’s the reality here. The Congress would probably never permit this Constitutional Convention to be called. As soon as they saw state legislatures passing the resolutions to bring these things to pass we would see the members of congress trying to beat the citizens to the punch. No … they’re not going to send the choice of Senators back to the states, and they’re unlikely to set term limits for themselves. But we might actually see some movement on the repeal of the 16th Amendment and serious consideration given to the FairTax.

Dreaming? Maybe so, but maybe not. Get the right grassroots organization formed to push this idea for a Constitutional Convention and you just might rattle some cages in Washington. Who knows? Maybe the people might start counting again.

Our Representative in Northwest Florida, Jeff Miller, is a supporter of the Fair Tax as a method of tax reform and economic recovery. We have to work on the others around the country and our Senators as well. For more information about The Fair Tax see the links below. The ‘grassroots’ is you and I. In Pensacola come join us and be part of the solution. Hit the Pensacola Fair Tax Meetup Group link below.

Economy, Fair Tax, Pensacola, Politics

Answering Papantonio With The Fair Tax

Below is a ‘comment’ that I left to an article Mike Papantonio wrote in the Pensacola News Journal yesterday entitled ‘No choice but to spend our way out.’ Coming from an Air America talk radio host, that is just the sort of ‘fix’ one could expect from him. But it was also an opportunity for me to ad my two cents to promote The Fair Tax as a real solution to our economic problems. And below is my reply:

If the PEOPLE only had more money left to spend, it would help to turn things around. But if the GOVERNMENT spends our (and our children’s and our grand-children’s) money, it will simply make the hole bigger.Two things to remember, when you’re in a hole, quit digging. And, like Winston Churchill said, “We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”

So how do the people come to have more money? Don’t confiscate it via taxes, let them keep more of what they earn. Unfortunately, that won’t happen in today’s current political climate. CHANGE is what is needed. Changing how the government is financed, via the Fair Tax system, will go a long way in bringing us to economic recovery, creating jobs, business, investment, and savings.

But before that will happen, a lot of politicians will have to go into a 12-step program to wean themselves from of the old way of ‘control through taxation.’

It is a shame that today, President Elect Barack Obama is saying that ONLY THE GOVERNMENT can get us out of the current situation, through spending of epic proportions, and on programs that are not going to stimulate the economy, but instead will advance his campaign promises. The solution to the country’s problem is called The Fair Tax, where the people will have their own money to spend. Where the people will then choose, through the free market, who the winners and losers will be, rather than have it taken by THE GOVERNMENT to spend it elsewhere and on their special interests.

You can see where the 12-step program is needed. But don’t hold your breath for Barack and his Cabinet to sign up for it. It is up to you and I to remind the folks in Washington that they are supposed to represent us, not control us, and push us over the economic cliff with trillions and trillions of imaginary dollars, further weakening our economy.

Please share with us any letters to the editor or blog comments that you have written in support of The Fair Tax. See you at the next meetup. Tue. Jan 20, 7pm at Philly’s Cheesesteaks & Hoagies, 3900 Creighton Road.
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Pensacola Fair Tax Advocates

Iran, Media, Politics, United Nations, War On Terror

US Blocks UN Statement On Gaza

2 Comments

You’ve seen the media hype all the civilian casualties, women and children, before. In fact, it has become fashionable to report on women and children casualties as a result of war. We see it in our media and everywhere else in the world. We see it in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and in Lebanon and the Gaza strip. Not so much in Israel, at the hands of Hamas. Since Israel’s enemy and our enemy choose to use their own families as human shields, women and children casualties are a given. So media, spare me the tears please.

The United States late Saturday blocked approval of a U.N. Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers, diplomats said.

With no history nor expectation that Hamas will live at peace and accept the existence of Israel, the US did the right thing at the UN. All the bleeding proportional-response.jpghearts be dammed. That war, as in any war, is not going to end until one side or the other wins it. Or to put it another way, until one side loses it.  ‘Cease fires’ where Islamofascists are concerned is Osama-speak for back up, regroup, re-arm, and attack another day. Not surprisingly, the Useless Nations has no memory of this tact, or Tora Bora, or Sadr City, or Fallujah.

Meanwhile, let the terrorist cleansing begin. It’s called peace through strength, not peace through surrender. And why doesn’t Israel have the same right to self-defense as other nations?

At this point, it is beginning to look like PEBO has his first test coming up shortly. Will he support our ally, or the terrorists and Iran?

links: Diplomats say US blocks UN statement on Gaza | The Jews Face a Double Standard